The Five Freelance Life Laws

Freelance Life Law 1: Work Is Not a Choice for Most Freelancers

When you have to work, you have to work. No apologies, no excuses. It’s OK to choose to work instead of waiting for the cable guy (or the neighbor’s cable guy). Repeat this to yourself until you start believing it. Repeat it to others until they start listening.

Freelance Life Law 2: Earning Less Than Your Mate Doesn’t Mean You Get Stuck with All the Grunt Work (Unless That’s Your Agreement)

An agreement being, “an arrangement as fair as possible for all the parties.” And what’s fair is a very personal thing. Also, assumptions are not agreements. If you haven’t discussed it, it’s not an agreement. You might be surprised at the workable solutions that come from a simple conversation.

Freelance Life Law 3: Blend, Not Boundaries

Work and life have been merging for years. So, let ’em. Because technology finally supports it. Because work today demands it. Because earning a living now often requires it. And because you, freelancer, can.

Unlike millions of traditional employees, you can work while you wait for the cable guy. You can be in and out of the gym before the nine-to-five crew descends at six p.m. You can stake out picnic-blanket turf early for the concert in the park and happily work on your laptop and cell phone until your cube-controlled friends arrive. You can walk the kids to school, say hi to the teacher, stop for a latte, then hit your desk: “I wake up early with the baby, then doze with him before my daughter wakes up. We eat breakfast together and play until it’s time to go to daycare. I feel so happy that I can give my children time in the morning, compared to the days I used to scramble for a suitable work outfit, throw lunch together for my daughter, hurry her out the door to daycare—and still be late to the office!”

Being in control of their time is a huge reason people love freelancing despite the rocky income: “Being able to create my own schedule has made an enormous difference not only in my work life but in my family life as well. Now that my kids are getting older, I’m even more grateful that as a freelancer I could be more available to my children and when they were younger.”

We’ll post the rest of these “life laws” tomorrow. But in the meantime, let us know what you “can” do that the “cube-controlled” cannot!